Now I Have It

Yep, the small snotty one (AKA Offspring #2) has decided to pass her horrible cold onto me - it's understandable that I ended up with it as she hasn't let go of me for more than about 5 minutes over the last two days. I'm feeling pretty rotten right now but we had people to dinner so I needed to cook something decent. We had Coriander Crumbed Lamb Cutlets, always a success, with Potato Bake with some store-bought garlic bread and a delicious salad that our guests brought to the table. For dessert I tried a new cheesecake recipe that I have had my eye on for a while but never seem to get around to. This was my first attempt at a baked cheesecake and I have to say that I liked it, although it did turn out to be a little raspberry-er than I had anticipated. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it too so I guess it will be joining the repertoire of 'guests to dinner' dishes LOL.

Raspberry Ripple Cheesecake
from Australian Table Magazine, April 2007.

Biscuit Base

2 cups coarsely broken plain sweet biscuits

1/2 cup almond meal

1/4 cup cream

75g butter, melted

Filling

150g frozen raspberries, thawed

2/3 cup caster sugar

750g cream cheese

2 eggs

grated rind of 1 lemon (left this out)

2 tablespoons lemon juice (put this in)

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius. To make biscuit base, use a blender or food processor to process broken biscuits into fine crumbs. Place crumbs, almond meal, cream and melted butter in a bowl and stir until combined. Using fingers, press crumb mixture into a 22cm springform pan to come 5cm up the sides. Chill while making filling.

2. Place raspberries and 2 tablespoon of sugar in a small saucepan on medium heat and cook until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 10 minutes, until thickened. Press through a sieve and discard seeds. Set aside to cool.

3. Using an electric mixer with paddle or V-groove beaters, beat cream cheese and remaining sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in lemon rind and juice. Pour into prepared shell.

4. Drop tablespoons of raspberry mixture over filling and swirl lightly with a round-bladed knife or small metal spatula. bake for 30 minutes, until crust is cooked through. Remove from oven, cool, then refrigerate overnight or for at least 6 hours. Cut and serve.